Michael Anastassiades founded his studio in London in 1994. He trained as a civil engineer at London’s Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine before taking a master’s degree in industrial design at the Royal College of Art. His work is featured in permanent collections at the Museum Of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the MAK in Vienna, the Crafts Council in London, the FRAC Centre in Orleans France and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Reload the Current Page’, at Point Centre for Contemporary Arts Nicosia, ‘Time And Again’ at the Geymüllerschlössel MAK in Vienna, ‘Doings on Time and Light’ at Rodeo Gallery, Istanbul, ‘To Be Perfectly Frank’ at Svenskt Tenn in Stockholm, ‘Kinetic Light 2 – Gold Pendulum’, Norfolk House music room at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Cyprus Presidency at the European Parliament in Brussels Belgium, ‘13 Mobiles’ at Atelier Jesper in Brussels, ‘Things That Go Together’ at NiMAC in Nicosia, ‘Silver Tongued’ at Taka Ishii in Hong Kong.

Anastassiades is a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) at the Royal Society of Arts. He is involved in educational programmes at international institutions such as Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London and ECAL, Lausanne.

The studio has collaborated with various manufacturers including Flos, B&B Italia, Herman Miller, Cassina, Molteni, Bang & Olufsen, Puiforcat, Fratelli Fantini SpA, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, Roda, Lobmeyr, Salvatori, Svenskt Tenn, Carl Auböck/Sigmar, Coedition and SCP. He has designed signature limited edition collections for Nilufar Gallery, Milan, Dansk Mobelkunst, Copenhagen and Taka Ishii Gallery, Japan.

Michael Anastassiades on ARCHILOVERS

michaelanastassiades.com

Photo credit: Ben Murphy

Launched in 2017, anniversary is an online magazine that features curated stories and creative works from both established and emerging talents, celebrating culture through art, fashion, design and architecture.

Both creative directors, Alex also works as a photographer and Francis as a 3D artist.

Executive Director, Founder @ Female Design Council | Founder @ kinder MODERN – USA

Based between Vancouver and Berlin, Omer Arbel cultivates a fluid position between the fields of architecture, sculpture, invention and design. Focal themes of his work include ongoing investigations of intrinsic mechanical, physical and chemical qualities of materials, and the exploration of light as a dynamic medium.

Arbel is the co-founder and creative director of lighting and manufacturing brand Bocci; his practice also focuses on innovative architectural projects and collaborations with cultural institutions and in the public realm. During 2020 Arbel will debut two solo exhibitions – a presentation of four current architecture projects with Aedes Architekturforum in Berlin, and a new series of copper objects at Carwan Gallery in Athens.

Ark4lab is an open Architecture laboratory based in Thessaloniki, Greece, devoted to contemporary architectural design and research. It was founded by George Tyrothoulakis and Evdokia Voudouri, both graduated in Architecture at Aristotele University of Thessaloniki. Since 2010 Ark4lab explores and develops its practice through all scales and media. Their projects include buildings, residential projects, hotel design, landscape, urban design, exhibitions and interior design, academic and educational projects covering all stages of the project, from the design phase to project management. Ark4lab are obsessed with authenticity in each project working closely with clients for a unique experience for the user of their living space.

Ark4lab on ARCHILOVERS

www.ark4lab.gr

Architect, Founder @ Keiji Ashizawa Design – JP

«Alfonso Femia, is the co-founder of 5+1 agency in 1995, in 2005 changes name and shape into 5+1AA srl and in 2017 turned into Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia. In 2007, with the creation of the agency in Paris, he develops the project themes in an “atelier” gathering three places characteristic of the identity of the three cities, Genoa, Milan and Paris, where a multidisciplinay team animates it as a unique place for project and thought, being feeded by the different characteristics and experiences of the three cities.
The Ateliers (s) address the theme of contemporaryity in the relationship between city, territory and architecture, building this relationship as a representation of reality. A visionary pragmatism that feeds reality with its own imaginary and asks the imaginary to come into contact with reality.

The perception and transformation of reality are the cornerstones of an idea of ​​architecture as a body and aenigma, which is both realistic and emotional, pragmatic and sensual, shared and capable of creating wonder as a mechanism of knowledge. The research on the matter, characteristic of the latest projects made in Italy and France, is a fundamental part of a reaffirmation of matter as an empathetic dimension of architecture in the encounter with those who live or inhabit the architecture and the city. At the same time it is the generous will to reaffirm the importance of a close dialogue in the project chain, from the client to the craftsman. The Marseille Docks are a manifestation of the main themes of the Atelier(s) AF517:  the Public/Private Relationship, the project as a place of destination, the dialogue as a project tool and the project as a tool of dialogue is the action that distinguishes the thought of the ‘Atelier(s) Femia, who believes in the project as a moment of encounter and confrontation, which is measured with time and in time and which makes the cronotopic dimension one of the objectives of the research.»

Among the most famous projects: the University Campus of Savona, the Ice Palace and the Ice Factory in Milan, and the Horizontal Tower, directional centre of Fieramilano in Rho.
In 2006 they opened an atelier in Milan, dedicated to the study and experimentation on the contemporary city. In the same year, Simonetta Cenci becomes partner of 5+1AA. In 2007 they developed the Master Plan for the Expo 2015 in Milan and opened an architectural office in Paris. In 2010 they completed the Toys and Arts Museum in Milan.
Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia won numerous awards and the Docks of Marseille in the year 2016 has been awarded with the Mipim Awards in Cannes, at the ULI Awards in Dallas, TX, USA, at the FX Awards and Leaf Awards who both took place in London, UK. Recently it has been officially opened their project of the New Headquarters of BNL-BNP Paribas, in viale Altiero Spinelli, in Rome, right next to Tiburtina station.

www.atelierfemia.com

Cécile Combelle and Antonio Di Bacco, both graduate from the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Toulouse, France, founded the Montreal-based international architecture and design studio Atelier Barda in 2013. Their multidisciplinary practice is guided by a commitment to fulfilling and even exceeding the design brief by pushing creative boundaries.  The designers address spaces in an open, constructive and sensitive manner, giving attention to every detail.  For Cécile and Antonio, concepts do not only reflect the singularity of each project and its context, but also the intimate character of the designer.  Starting from an intuitive but rigorous manner, they approach each project by paying particular attention to the references born of their personal and common history, as well as the knowledge acquired through experience: matter in constant transformation.

The team composed of passionate members from various backgrounds combines traditional and contemporary vocabularies, freely exploring uses and materials to create clean-lined, timeless spaces and furniture pieces.

In 2017, Atelier Barda expanded into furniture design with its new division Foraine. Whether the team is designing a custom collection or adapting an existing line to a new space, they adopt an integrated approach, working closely with local artisans and manufacturers at every stage. In April 2018, Foraine was part of the exhibition In toto x Montreal a Milano that took place at Archiproducts Milano during the annual Salone del Mobile.

In 2019, the studio was nominated at the Excellence Awards of the Order of Architects of Quebec and was cited among the top ten international designers by Est Magazine. The team won several times the Annual Best of Canada Awards with their architecture projects. In 2018, the studio won the Emerging Architecture Talent Award from the Toronto Design Exchange Museum and was cited by Azure magazine as one of Canada’s 30 avant-garde architectural firms.

Atelier Barda on ARCHILOVERS

atelierbarda.com

Austin Maynard Architects
Directors: Andrew Maynard & Mark Austin

Since launching in 2002, the Austin Maynard Architects team has built up an exciting and diverse portfolio.

The practice is not inhibited by building type, but rather navigates residential, retail and commercial arenas and is rich in envelope-pushing conceptual designs. Austin Maynard Architects explore architecture of enthusiasm. Treating each project as a unique challenge, and working directly with clients and occupants, our team offer individual possibilities and thoughtful responses to people, brief and place. We embrace deliberative design and look to issues of liveability, culture, heritage, community connection, mental health and cures to modern isolation. We pride ourselves in sustainable design and experimentation. Ideas are concept rich, left of centre, playful and environmentally conscious; styles and singular themes are avoided. At Austin Maynard we specialise in ideas rather than building type, whether the project is a house in Fitzroy, a library in Japan, a protest shelter in Tasmania or a plywood bicycle.

Practice founder Andrew Maynard gained global notoriety for his polemic work (Styx Valley, CV08 robot) years before achieving international acclaim for residential projects Tower House and Mills, The Toy Management House. Polemic is an attack on something, hopefully a critical one, he says. But it is the idea of constantly agitating that safe space, keeping oneself honest by causing trouble and being playful.
Andrew is a founding board member of Nightingale Housing, a social enterprise that exists to support, promote and advocate for high-quality housing that is ecologically, socially, financially sustainable.
Together with co-director Mark Austin and the team, Austin Maynard Architects continue to look beyond the brief and address the bigger picture. As architects we seek to make ourselves relevant to the world, to make spaces that engage and are compelling beyond their function.
At Austin Maynard Architects we ask users to be the authors of their spaces and their city. We work directly with occupants to ensure we understand their wants and needs. It is through this collaborative approach that the richness in our work emerges. We ask for open participation from clients and encourage them to draw, research, question and engage.

Winner: The 2019 Canberra Medallion for Empire House. Awarded by the Australian Institute of Architects.
Winner: Lysaght Inspirations Design ëMajor Award 2018 for Tower House
Winner: Design Studio of the Year, the Asia Pacific INDE. Awards 2017

Austin Maynard Architects stretching expectations of how architecture can inspire full and joyful lives. Lucy Feagins, The Design Files

Azamit is a Montreal style icon, brand builder and creative connector. With a distinct background in fashion, curation and events, she creates unique design encounters that transcend the senses and leave the viewer with an imprint of revelation.

Her multi-layered interests in the design world has led her to create In Toto – a visual storytelling firm with an invitation to elevate and celebrate contemporary design and aesthetics. The firm curates captivating moments in time that epitomize enduring style and effortless elegance. It draws on current notions of culture to propose distinguished visual worlds that reveal the uniqueness of the stories they tell.

Her constant quest and relentless pursuit on incubating new ideas has led her to become a champion of localness, wherever that may be.

www.intoto-intoto.com